Brainwashing (awso known as mind controw, menticide, coercive persuasion, dought controw, dought reform, and re-education) is de concept dat de human mind can be awtered or controwwed by certain psychowogicaw techniqwes. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject’s abiwity to dink criticawwy or independentwy,[1] to awwow de introduction of new, unwanted doughts and ideas into de subject’s mind,[2] as weww as to change his or her attitudes, vawues, and bewiefs.[3][4]

The concept of brainwashing is sometimes invowved in wegaw cases, especiawwy regarding chiwd custody; and is awso a deme in science fiction and in criticism of modern powiticaw and corporate cuwture. Awdough de term appears in de fiff edition of de Diagnostic and Statisticaw Manuaw of Mentaw Disorders (DSM-5) of de American Psychiatric Association[7] brainwashing is not accepted as scientific fact.[8]

The Chinese term xǐnăo (洗脑，witerawwy "wash brain")[9] was originawwy used to describe de coercive persuasion used under de Maoist government in China, which aimed to transform "reactionary" peopwe into "right-dinking" members of de new Chinese sociaw system.[10] The term punned on de Taoist custom of "cweansing / washing de heart / mind" (xǐxīn，洗心) before conducting ceremonies or entering howy pwaces.[a]

The Oxford Engwish Dictionary records de earwiest known Engwish-wanguage usage of de word "brainwashing" in an articwe by newspaperman Edward Hunter, in Miami News, pubwished on 24 September 1950. Hunter was an outspoken anticommunist and was awweged to be a CIA agent working undercover as a journawist.[11] Hunter and oders used de Chinese term to expwain why, during de Korean War (1950-1953), some American prisoners of war (POWs) cooperated wif deir Chinese captors, even in a few cases defected to deir side.[12] British radio operator Robert W. Ford[13][14] and British army Cowonew James Carne awso cwaimed dat de Chinese subjected dem to brainwashing techniqwes during deir war-era imprisonment.[15]

The U.S. miwitary and government waid charges of brainwashing in an effort to undermine confessions made by POWs to war crimes, incwuding biowogicaw warfare.[16] After Chinese radio broadcasts cwaimed to qwote Frank Schwabwe, Chief of Staff of de First Marine Air Wing admitting to participating in germ warfare, United Nations commander Gen, uh-hah-hah-hah. Mark W. Cwark asserted:[17]

Wheder dese statements ever passed de wips of dese unfortunate men is doubtfuw. If dey did, however, too famiwiar are de mind-annihiwating medods of dese Communists in extorting whatever words dey want .... The men demsewves are not to bwame, and dey have my deepest sympady for having been used in dis abominabwe way.

Beginning in 1953, Robert Jay Lifton interviewed American servicemen who had been POWs during de Korean War as weww as priests, students, and teachers who had been hewd in prison in China after 1951. In addition to interviews wif 25 Americans and Europeans, Lifton interviewed 15 Chinese citizens who had fwed after having been subjected to indoctrination in Chinese universities. (Lifton's 1961 book Thought Reform and de Psychowogy of Totawism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China, was based on dis research.)[18] Lifton found dat when de POWs returned to de United States deir dinking soon returned to normaw, contrary to de popuwar image of "brainwashing."[19]

In 1956, after reexamining de concept of brainwashing fowwowing de Korean War, de U.S. Army pubwished a report entitwed Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination, and Expwoitation of Prisoners of War, which cawwed brainwashing a "popuwar misconception". The report concwudes dat "exhaustive research of severaw government agencies faiwed to reveaw even one concwusivewy documented case of 'brainwashing' of an American prisoner of war in Korea."[20]

In George Orweww's 1949 dystopian novew Nineteen Eighty-Four de main character is subjected to imprisonment, isowation, and torture in order to conform his doughts and emotions to de wishes of de ruwers of Orweww's fictionaw future totawitarian society. Orweww's vision infwuenced Hunter and is stiww refwected in de popuwar understanding of de concept of brainwashing.[21][22]

The science fiction stories of Cordwainer Smif (written from de 1940s untiw his deaf in 1966) depict brainwashing to remove memories of traumatic events as a normaw and benign part of future medicaw practice.[28] Mind controw remains an important deme in science fiction, uh-hah-hah-hah. Terry O'Brien comments: "Mind controw is such a powerfuw image dat if hypnotism did not exist, den someding simiwar wouwd have to have been invented: The pwot device is too usefuw for any writer to ignore. The fear of mind controw is eqwawwy as powerfuw an image."[29] A subgenre is corporate mind controw, in which a future society is run by one or more business corporations dat dominate society using advertising and mass media to controw de popuwation's doughts and feewings.[30]

In 1974, Patty Hearst, a member of de weawdy Hearst famiwy, was kidnapped by de Symbionese Liberation Army, a weft-wing miwitant organization, uh-hah-hah-hah. After severaw weeks of captivity she agreed to join de group and took part in deir activities. In 1975, she was arrested and charged wif bank robbery and use of a gun in committing a fewony. Her attorney, F. Lee Baiwey, argued in her triaw dat she shouwd not be hewd responsibwe for her actions since her treatment by her captors was de eqwivawent of de awweged brainwashing of Korean War POWs (see awso Diminished responsibiwity). Hearst was found guiwty, but her “brainwashing defense” brought de topic to renewed pubwic attention in de United States,[34] as did de 1969 to 1971 case of Charwes Manson, who was said to have brainwashed his fowwowers to commit murder and oder crimes.[35][36]

Itawy has had controversy over de concept of pwagio, a crime consisting in an absowute psychowogicaw—and eventuawwy physicaw—domination of a person, uh-hah-hah-hah. The effect is said to be de annihiwation of de subject's freedom and sewf-determination and de conseqwent negation of his or her personawity. The crime of pwagio has rarewy been prosecuted in Itawy, and onwy one person was ever convicted. In 1981, an Itawian court found dat de concept is imprecise, wacks coherence, and is wiabwe to arbitrary appwication, uh-hah-hah-hah.[43] By de twenty-first century, de concept of brainwashing was being appwied "wif some success" in chiwd custody and chiwd sexuaw abuse cases. In some cases "one parent is accused of brainwashing de chiwd to reject de oder parent, and in chiwd sex abuse cases where one parent is accused of brainwashing de chiwd to make sex abuse accusations against de oder parent" (possibwy resuwting in or causing parentaw awienation[44]).[45][46]

In 2003, forensic psychowogist Dick Andony said dat "no reasonabwe person wouwd qwestion dat dere are situations where peopwe can be infwuenced against deir best interests, but dose arguments are evawuated on de basis of fact, not bogus expert testimony."[46] In 2016, Israewi andropowogist of rewigion and fewwow at de Van Leer Jerusawem Institute Adam Kwin-Oron said about den-proposed "anti-cuwt" wegiswation:

In de 1980s dere was a wave of ‘brainwashing’ cwaims, and den parwiaments around de worwd examined de issue, courts around de worwd examined de issue, and reached a cwear ruwing: That dere is no such ding as cuwts…dat de peopwe making dese cwaims are often not experts on de issue. And in de end courts, incwuding in Israew, rejected expert witnesses who cwaimed dere is "brainwashing."[47]

In de 1970s, de anti-cuwt movement appwied de concept of brainwashing to expwain seemingwy sudden and dramatic rewigious conversions to various new rewigious movements (NRMs) and oder groups dat dey considered cuwts.[48][49][50] News media reports tended to support de brainwashing view[51] and sociaw scientists sympadetic to de anti-cuwt movement, who were usuawwy psychowogists, devewoped revised modews of mind controw.[49] Whiwe some psychowogists were receptive to de concept, sociowogists were for de most part skepticaw of its abiwity to expwain conversion to NRMs.[52]

Phiwip Zimbardo defined mind controw as "de process by which individuaw or cowwective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies dat modify or distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition or behavioraw outcomes,"[53] and he suggested dat any human being is susceptibwe to such manipuwation, uh-hah-hah-hah.[54] Anoder adherent to dis view, Jean-Marie Abgraww was heaviwy criticized by forensic psychowogist Dick Andony for empwoying a pseudo-scientific approach and wacking any evidence dat anyone's worwdview was substantiawwy changed by dese coercive medods. On de contrary, de concept and de fear surrounding it was used as a toow for de anti-cuwt movement to rationawize de persecution of minority rewigious groups.[55]

Eiween Barker criticized de concept of mind controw because it functioned to justify costwy interventions such as deprogramming or exit counsewing.[56] She has awso criticized some mentaw heawf professionaws, incwuding Singer, for accepting expert witness jobs in court cases invowving NRMs.[57] Her 1984 book, The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?[58] describes de rewigious conversion process to de Unification Church (whose members are sometimes informawwy referred to as Moonies), which had been one of de best known groups said to practice brainwashing.[59][60] Barker spent cwose to seven years studying Unification Church members. She interviewed in depf or gave probing qwestionnaires to church members, ex-members, "non-joiners" and controw groups of uninvowved peopwe from simiwar backgrounds, as weww as parents, spouses and friends of members. She awso attended numerous church workshops and communaw faciwities.[56] Barker writes dat she rejects de "brainwashing" deory, because it expwains neider de many peopwe who attended a recruitment meeting and did not become members, nor de vowuntary disaffiwiation of members.[61][62][63][64]

James Richardson observed dat if de new rewigious movements had access to powerfuw brainwashing techniqwes, one wouwd expect dat dey wouwd have high growf rates, yet in fact most have not had notabwe success in recruitment. Most adherents participate for onwy a short time, and de success in retaining members is wimited.[65] For dis and oder reasons, sociowogists of rewigion incwuding David Bromwey and Anson Shupe consider de idea dat "cuwts" are brainwashing American youf to be "impwausibwe."[66] In addition, Thomas Robbins, Massimo Introvigne, Lorne Dawson, Gordon Mewton, Marc Gawanter, and Sauw Levine, amongst oder schowars researching NRMs, have argued and estabwished to de satisfaction of courts, rewevant professionaw associations and scientific communities dat dere exists no generawwy accepted scientific deory, based upon medodowogicawwy sound research, dat supports de concept of brainwashing as advanced by de anti-cuwt movement.[67]

Benjamin Zabwocki responded dat brainwashing is not "a process dat is directwy observabwe,"[68] and dat de "reaw sociowogicaw issue" is wheder "brainwashing occurs freqwentwy enough to be considered an important sociaw probwem",[69] and dat Richardson misunderstands brainwashing, conceiving of it as a recruiting process, instead of a retaining process,[70] and dat de number of peopwe who attest to brainwashing in interviews (performed in accordance wif guidewines of de Nationaw Institute of Mentaw Heawf and Nationaw Science Foundation) is too warge resuwt from anyding oder dan a genuine phenomenon, uh-hah-hah-hah.[71] Zabwocki awso pointed out dat in de two most prestigious journaws dedicated to de sociowogy of rewigion dere have been no articwes "supporting de brainwashing perspective," whiwe over one hundred such articwes have been pubwished in oder journaws "marginaw to de fiewd."[72] He concwudes dat de concept of brainwashing has been unfairwy bwackwisted.[6][69][72][73]

In 1983, de American Psychowogicaw Association (APA) asked Singer to chair a taskforce cawwed de APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Techniqwes of Persuasion and Controw (DIMPAC) to investigate wheder brainwashing or coercive persuasion did indeed pway a rowe in recruitment by NRMs.
[74] It came to de fowwowing concwusion:[75]

Cuwts and warge group awareness trainings have generated considerabwe controversy because of deir widespread use of deceptive and indirect techniqwes of persuasion and controw. These techniqwes can compromise individuaw freedom, and deir use has resuwted in serious harm to dousands of individuaws and famiwies. This report reviews de witerature on dis subject, proposes a new way of conceptuawizing infwuence techniqwes, expwores de edicaw ramifications of deceptive and indirect techniqwes of persuasion and controw, and makes recommendations addressing de probwems described in de report.

On 11 May 1987, de APA's Board of Sociaw and Edicaw Responsibiwity for Psychowogy (BSERP) rejected de DIMPAC report because de report "wacks de scientific rigor and evenhanded criticaw approach necessary for APA imprimatur", and concwuded dat "after much consideration, BSERP does not bewieve dat we have sufficient information avaiwabwe to guide us in taking a position on dis issue."[76]

Some of de techniqwes used by traffickers incwude feigning wove and concern for de victims' weww-being to gain trust before beginning to track, manipuwate and controw de entire wife of de victim, incwuding environment, rewationships, access to information and daiwy activities, promises of wucrative empwoyment or corrupt marriage proposaws, debt bondage, kidnapping,[82] induced drug dependency and fear tactics such as dreats about waw enforcement, deportation, and harm to friends or famiwy members.[83][84] Physicaw captivity, shame, Stockhowm syndrome, traumatic bonding and fear of arrest can contribute to victims’ inabiwity to seek assistance.[85]

Russian historian Daniew Romanovsky, who interviewed survivors and eyewitnesses in de 1970s, reported on what he cawwed "Nazi brainwashing" of de peopwe of Bewarus by de occupying Germans during de Second Worwd War, which took pwace drough bof mass propaganda and intense re-education, especiawwy in schoows. Romanovsky noted dat very soon most peopwe had adopted de Nazi view dat de Jews were an inferior race and were cwosewy tied to de Soviet government, views dat had not been at aww common before de German occupation, uh-hah-hah-hah.[86][87][88][89][90][91]

Joost Meerwoo, a Dutch psychiatrist, was an earwy proponent of de concept of brainwashing. ("Menticide" is a neowogism coined by him meaning: "kiwwing of de mind.") Meerwoo's view was infwuenced by his experiences during de German occupation of his country and his work wif de Dutch government and de American miwitary in de interrogation of accused Nazi war criminaws. He water emigrated to de United States and taught at Cowumbia University.[92] His best-sewwing 1956 book, The Rape of de Mind, concwudes by saying:

The modern techniqwes of brainwashing and menticide—dose perversions of psychowogy—can bring awmost any man into submission and surrender. Many of de victims of dought controw, brainwashing, and menticide dat we have tawked about were strong men whose minds and wiwws were broken and degraded. But awdough de totawitarians use deir knowwedge of de mind for vicious and unscrupuwous purposes, our democratic society can and must use its knowwedge to hewp man to grow, to guard his freedom, and to understand himsewf.[93]

Schowars have said dat modern business corporations practice mind controw to create a work force dat shares common vawues and cuwture.[94] Critics have winked "corporate brainwashing" wif gwobawization, saying dat corporations are attempting to create a worwdwide monocuwturaw network of producers, consumers, and managers.[95] Modern educationaw systems have awso been criticized, by bof de weft and de right, for contributing to corporate brainwashing.[96] In his 1992 book, Democracy in an Age of Corporate Cowonization, Stanwey A. Deetz says dat modern "sewf awareness" and "sewf improvement" programs provide corporations wif even more effective toows to controw de minds of empwoyees dan traditionaw brainwashing.[97]

In his 2000 book, Destroying de Worwd to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocawyptic Viowence, and de New Gwobaw Terrorism, Robert Lifton appwied his originaw ideas about dought reform to Aum Shinrikyo and de War on Terrorism, concwuding dat in dis context dought reform was possibwe widout viowence or physicaw coercion, uh-hah-hah-hah. He awso pointed out dat in deir efforts against terrorism Western governments were awso using some mind controw techniqwes, incwuding dought-terminating cwichés.[98]

^ abMewton, J. Gordon (10 December 1999). "Brainwashing and de Cuwts: The rise and faww of a deory". Center for Studies on New Rewigions (CESNUR). Retrieved 5 September 2009. Since de wate 1980s, dough a significant pubwic bewief in cuwt-brainwashing remains, de academic community-incwuding schowars from psychowogy, sociowogy, and rewigious studies-have shared an awmost unanimous consensus dat de coercive persuasion / brainwashing desis proposed by Margaret Singer and her cowweagues in de 1980s is widout scientific merit.

^Usarski, Frank (6 December 2012). Cressweww, Jamie; Wiwson, Bryan, eds. New Rewigious Movements: Chawwenge and Response. Routwedge. p. 238. ISBN9781134636969. ... dere has been untiw now a wack of any convincing scientific evidence which can be appwied in a generawised form to show dat invowvement in a New Rewigious Movement has any destructive conseqwences for de psyche of de individuaw concerned. ... The fact dat, in aww de ensuing years, no one has succeeded in verifying beyond reasonabwe doubt any of dese cwaims, has however, never been regarded as a reason to exonerate de groups in any way. ... Thus, up to de time of writing, dere has not been one singwe successfuw, wegaw conviction of de Scientowogy Church, even dough dis group has come to be regarded as de most dangerous of de new rewigious organisations. ... The fact dat even wong-term investigations have as yet faiwed to produce de desired resuwts continues to be ignored.

^Browning, Michaew (2003-03-14). "Was kidnapped Utah teen brainwashed?". Pawm Beach Post. Pawm Beach. ISSN1528-5758. During de Korean War, captured American sowdiers were subjected to prowonged interrogations and harangues by deir captors, who often worked in reways and used de "good-cop, bad-cop" approach – awternating a brutaw interrogator wif a gentwe one. It was aww part of "Xi Nao" (washing de brain). The Chinese and Koreans were making vawiant attempts to convert de captives to de communist way of dought.

^Mewton, J. Gordon (1999-12-10). "Brainwashing and de Cuwts: The Rise and Faww of a Theory". CESNUR: Center for Studies on New Rewigions. Retrieved 2009-06-15. In de United States at de end of de 1970s, brainwashing emerged as a popuwar deoreticaw construct around which to understand what appeared to be a sudden rise of new and unfamiwiar rewigious movements during de previous decade, especiawwy dose associated wif de hippie street-peopwe phenomenon, uh-hah-hah-hah.

^Moon’s deaf marks end of an era, Eiween Barker, CNN, 3 September 2012, Awdough Moon is wikewy to be remembered for aww dese dings – mass weddings, accusations of brainwashing, powiticaw intrigue and enormous weawf – he shouwd awso be remembered as creating what was arguabwy one of de most comprehensive and innovative deowogies embraced by a new rewigion of de period.

^Hyung-Jin Kim (2 September 2012). "Unification Church founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon dies at 92". USA Today. ISSN0734-7456. Retrieved 2 September 2012. The Rev. Sun Myung Moon was a sewf-procwaimed messiah who buiwt a gwobaw business empire. He cawwed bof Norf Korean weaders and American presidents his friends, but spent time in prisons in bof countries. His fowwowers around de worwd cherished him, whiwe his detractors accused him of brainwashing recruits and extracting money from worshippers.

^The Market for MartyrsArchived 11 January 2012 at de Wayback Machine, Laurence Iannaccone, George Mason University, 2006, "One of de most comprehensive and infwuentiaw studies was The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing? by Eiween Barker (1984). Barker couwd find no evidence dat Moonie recruits were ever kidnapped, confined, or coerced. Participants at Moonie retreats were not deprived of sweep; de wectures were not "trance-inducing" and dere was not much chanting, no drugs or awcohow, and wittwe dat couwd be termed "frenzy" or "ecstatic" experience. Peopwe were free to weave, and weave dey did. Barker’s extensive enumerations showed dat among de recruits who went so far as to attend two-day retreats (cwaimed to beMoonie’s most effective means of "brainwashing"), fewer dan 25% joined de group for more dan a week and onwy 5% remained fuww-time members one year water. And, of course, most contacts dropped out before attending a retreat. Of aww dose who visited a Moonie centre at weast once, not one in two-hundred remained in de movement two years water. Wif faiwure rates exceeding 99.5%, it comes as no surprise dat fuww-time Moonie membership in de U.S. never exceeded a few dousand. And dis was one of de most New Rewigious Movements of de era!"

^Oakes, Len "By far de best study of de conversion process is Eiween Barker’s The Making of a Moonie [...]" from Prophetic Charisma: The Psychowogy of Revowutionary Rewigious Personawities, 1997, ISBN0-8156-0398-3

^ abZabwocki, Benjamin, uh-hah-hah-hah. (October 1997). "THE BLACKLISTING OF A CONCEPT: THE STRANGE HISTORY OF THE BRAINWASHING CONJECTURE IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION". Nova Rewigio. 1 (1): 96–121. doi:10.1525/nr.1997.1.1.96.

^American Psychowogicaw Association Board of Sociaw and Edicaw Responsibiwity for Psychowogy (BSERP) (1987-05-11). "Memorandum". CESNUR: APA Memo of 1987 wif Encwosures. CESNUR Center for Studies on New Rewigion. Retrieved 2008-11-18. BSERP danks de Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Medods of Persuasion and Controw for its service but is unabwe to accept de report of de Task Force. In generaw, de report wacks de scientific rigor and evenhanded criticaw approach necessary for APA imprimatur.